Disrupting the Status Quo
ELM 8100 Segment 2
The Logic of “Disrupting the Status Quo”
Action research is known by many other names, including participatory research, collaborative inquiry, emancipatory research, action learning, and contextural action research, but all are variations on a theme. Put simply, action research is “learning by doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again. While this is the essence of the approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate it from common problem-solving activities that we all engage in every day. A more succinct definition is, “Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process." (Gilmore, Krantz, & Ramirez, 2002).
The main purpose of this article is to bring forth the notion of using effective action research in the educational arena in correlation with the Ed.D doctoral program and learners. The key question the authors pose for discussion is how the current design of action research can be incorporated in the Ed.D program that will effectively enhance the educational learners experiences as it pertains to the direct correlation to the design of action research and how the Ed.D doctoral program and action research link together.
The main inferences in the article is that transformation theory and its product, transformative learning, aids leaders in understanding and developing the necessary skills and
The Logic of “Disrupting the Status Quo”
Action research is known by many other names, including participatory research, collaborative inquiry, emancipatory research, action learning, and contextural action research, but all are variations on a theme. Put simply, action research is “learning by doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again. While this is the essence of the approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate it from common problem-solving activities that we all engage in every day. A more succinct definition is, “Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process." (Gilmore, Krantz, & Ramirez, 2002).
The main purpose of this article is to bring forth the notion of using effective action research in the educational arena in correlation with the Ed.D doctoral program and learners. The key question the authors pose for discussion is how the current design of action research can be incorporated in the Ed.D program that will effectively enhance the educational learners experiences as it pertains to the direct correlation to the design of action research and how the Ed.D doctoral program and action research link together.
The main inferences in the article is that transformation theory and its product, transformative learning, aids leaders in understanding and developing the necessary skills and
References: Gilmore, Thomas, Jim Krantz, and Rafael Ramirez. "Action Based Modes of Inquiry and the Host-Researcher Relationship." Consultation 5.3: 160-76. Grogan, M., Donaldosn, J., & Simmons, J. (2007). Disrupting the status quo: The action research dissertation as a transformative strategy. Retrieved April 22, 2011 from the Connexions web site: http://cnx.org/content/m14529/1.2/ Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.